Players:

Substitutes:

Colin Sablack

Jerry Lillard

Till Janzer

Warren Jackson

Scored goals:

Jerry Lillard

Adrian Kieran

Adrian Kieran

Report

Note that this was a different Medics team from our traditional foes; set up by current Partisan Patel who led the Medics from center-mid - don't worry mate, you'll be back in defence as soon as you line up for us again! Like all Medics teams however, they did manage to show up late. Things didn't get off to the best start, when Zhmako limped off after about 10 minutes after getting a knee in the thigh. Mostly english lads, the meds weren't afraid to get stuck in, which suited us fine. Guri, switched to center back, was also happily getting stuck in, and picked up a few warnings from the ref early on. Anyway, Zhmako off, Lillard on, and it was not long before he got himself on the scoresheet. Klopot encroaching up the left wing lofted the ball over to Lillard on the edge of the box, back to goal, defender right behind him. Lillard pivots as the ball bounces and I'm thinking this is going way over, but he strikes it just right, top of the goal, 1-0. Sorry for doubting you JJ. Down at the other end it was third time unlucky for Guri. Shepherding the Medics fast little forward out to the byline there was minimal contact, but the medic made a meal out of it and the ref pointed to the spot. The spot-kick was duly dispatched, Simunek having no chance, and Guri's continuing verbal volley did nothing but get the ref's back up even more; he was lucky to stay on the pitch. Leave it to one of our cooler heads to settle things down. Debutant Sheppard had wasted no time in striking up a good partnership with Kieran in center-mid; the big Irishman winning everything in the air and Sheppard distributing well. On this occasion, 20 yards out, he took a moment to look up and hit a beautiful chip into the top right corner. 2-1. Lots of subs, so we were keeping a rotation going. Half an hour gone, Janzer on for myself; Sablack on for Benson. Taking a view from the sidelines, I have to say that some of our passing was sublime, one-touch football - if we covered a bit more ground with it we'd look like Arsenal! So it wasn't long until the next goal, as Kieran got in on the act. A cross came in from the right at waist height; he swiveled and hit it back in at the near post from about 8-yards out, wrong-footing the keeper who was heading the other way. 3-1. Soon after that Sadowski headed a long through ball into the box from the left channel and Lillard headed it on over the outrushing keeper to notch up his second of the game. 4-1. It just got better. Kieran for his second, a piledriver from about 25 yards out that rocketed in off the underside off the bar in the top right corner. The big guy was so excited he subbed himself off shortly after so he could revel in it without having to worry about playing at the same time. 5-1 to Partisan. Half-time and the Medics probably happy to take a breather after that goal blitz. The second half saw another debut with Jackson coming on for Sadowski up front. The half was a bit tighter with the Medics determined to stop the rout, but we had the luxury of being able to sit back and pace ourselves. Lillard was the first to get his hattrick and I'm happy to claim the assist for this one. Taking a pass on the right hand side I jinked past two defenders before slotting the ball through the middle with the outside of my foot as JJ ran in. Taking it in his stride he deftly slotted past the keeper. 6-1. Medics got one back then, another penalty, even more farcical than the first, as one of their forward pulled off a dive that looked straight out of Swan Lake. I can't even remember which of our defenders it was, but not really their fault. Anyway, penalty dispatched as clinically as the first, 6-2. Rounding off the action then, Kieran was determined to get his hattrick and conjured his third seemingly out of nothing. Coming in from the left wing he was pretty much on the left edge of the six-yard box at such a tight angle that it was impossible to see him doing anything but cutting it back to one of the rest of us. No, he just blasted it up and in. 7-2. Keeper error? Hard to say, but that's not to take anything from a great performance by the big guy. I wouldn't say the last 10 minutes petered out, as a frustrated Medics side would not let up and Partisan are never known to sit back when they sniff goals to come. But 7-2 is how it ended, job well done. And in case this report has seemed imbalanced, let's not take anything from the rest of the team - a centre-back pairing of Ostrowski and Guri that let nothing through; Lemke and Sablack solid as ever; Klopot working his magic on the left wing; and all the rest.